Buy-to-let millions: How the Candy Brothers made property millions by selling to the rich

The Candy brothers are the men behind the new steel and glass extravagance that is One Hyde Park in Knightsbridge, central London.

Candy brothers: Nick and Christian have built their empire in 15 years

And as wealthy as they are, they might not have felt quite flush enough to splash out on the top-priced apartment in this their latest super-sized, super-deluxe property development for the super-rich.

Although the Candy brothers - Nick and Christian - have built up a shared wealth of at least £330m in less than 15 years, according to the Estates Gazette rich list 2010, they would not have had much left over if they had each forked out for the most expensive of the 86 flats available.

The six-bedroom penthouse recently sold for a Credit Crunch-busting £135-£140m.

To put this in context, the pair paid not much more than this price tag (£150m) for the whole site of the former 1950s Bowater House office block in 2004 - although then spent a borrowed £1bn plus to develop it.

Like the other flats, this homage to conspicuous consumption has enviable views over London, sumptuous fixtures and fittings, bullet-proof windows, panic room, wine cellar and a room service option for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel next door.

They expect to enjoy juicy spoils once all the marble-rich properties are sold and claim they are already halfway there.

One Hyde Park: Block of 86 upmarket flats

The brothers, with their property development companies Candy and Candy and CPC Group, have been on a fast track to fortune since the mid 1990s when they made their first modest start - a £50,000 gain on a flat they bought for £122,000 in Earls Court London that they purchased and did up with the help of a £6,000 loan from their grandmother.

At that time Nick, now 38, and younger brother Christian, 36, were working full time, the former in advertising and the latter for Merrill Lynch investment bank.

They eventually gave it up the day jobs to concentrate on money-spinning developments targeted initially at mere high net worth clients but now at the international super-rich jet and yachting set.

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Their numerous companies are spread far and wide with some lurking in tax havens from Monaco to the British Virgin Islands.

The Candy get-rich-quick routine has attracted the attention of the UK tax authorities but following a two-year investigation the Inland Revenue said in 2008 they had found nothing untoward.

Their high-rolling enterprises have hit a few bumps in the last few years, however.

Their project at the former Middlesex Hospital north of Oxford Street, that to the disgust of the locals they called 'No-Ho Square' hit difficulties and they pulled out due to the well-publicised troubles of investment partner Kaupthing, the Icelandic bank.

Nick and Holly: He is dating Australian actress Holly Valance

Things also went amiss with Chelsea Barracks, which they bought for £959m in 2008, after their Qatari investment partner pulled out on hearing of Prince Charles's condemnation of the scheme.

In an interview with the London Evening Standard in January 2011, they pair were asked whether suing a partner may risk scuppering future business contracts, Christian replied: 'Yes, we did think twice but there were two principles to be upheld. First, we had a contract and that should be honoured. Second, the amount of money involved was not a sum that we could ignore.'

A foray into development in Beverly Hills, California proved no less problematic with the brothers overpaying for a site that subsequently got sold at a loss.

None of these hiccups seems to have diminished either the confidence or the lifestyle of the privately educated pair from Banstead in Surrey.

Christian and Emily: He recently married the socialite

In fact the brothers have claimed in various reports to be worth at least double of even three times the sum the likes of Estates Gazette and Sunday Times (£300m) have calculated and certainly live a lifestyle akin to that of the loaded clients they are constantly wooing.

The brothers own several apartments in London and in the tax haven Monaco (they recently sold the one they shared together for a casino winnings-style £200m).

They own two luxurious yachts named Candyscape I and II and a powerboat called Catchmeifyoucandy plus a fleet of cars ranging from a couple of Rolls Royce's, Bentley's and Ferrari's to a Range Rover and two Maybach limousines.

They also buzz about in their own helicopter. They buy their bespoke suits from Savile Row tailors Spencer Hart and Richard James and shoes from Berluti.

They both have glamorous consorts: Nick is dating the Australian former Neighbours actress Holly Valance, while Christian recently married socialite Emily Crompton.

Working hard: The brothers in their office

In a bid to diversify, Christian is getting into underground as well as overground activities and recently bought a 44% share in Metals Exploration, a mining company which owns a gold mine in the Philippines.

But property is still the lynchpin. And Christian also recently set up a secured bridging loan company for the rich called Omni Capital, which issues short-term property loans of between £50,000 and £5m.

It is not just offering loan finance to individuals but to the wannabe Candy's of the future - entrepreneurs with a taste for up-market property developing.